Sanitary cigar cutter



May 19, 1925.

1,538,522 A. SPINNER ET AL SANITARY CIGAR CUTTER Filed Aug. 14, 1922 @J. ,ez 20 ,ez H\ f Mend 02's. firafiam Spinner Patented May 19, 1925.

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AN ABY CIGAR CUTTER Application fi l ednngust 14, 1B 22; serial No. 581,868;

device of thekind describedewhicln willbe selfasterilizing. and: therefor sanitary and aseptic, eventhough, a previous user OfFthB, device may havev moistened theend ofihis cigar in his, mouth before. using the cutter and may have thus contaminated thevarions parts ofthedevice with which the thus cons taminated cigar may come into contact; and more specifically tov vprovide. a-heating means, such as an electric resistance coil; whereby all parts ofithe cutting device with which the end of the cigarmay-come in contact are heated to sucha temperature that they will bepmade sterile. In other WOl'dS,- any germs which may infect that part of the, cutting device with which the; cigar endrmayi-come in. contact ane destroyed within a very short period oftimet Another object of ourinvention, is the provision, ofaideyice which will perforate the cigar end and ontott the, tip "thereof by a. mere slight pressure on the cigarafterithe tip thereof has been applied themcto A great variety of cigar cutters and cigar perforators hare been-in useand-onr inventi on is applicable to almostanytype, thereof; but for! purposes of description and illnetration we will describe it as applied to. the. specific. embodiment of cutter described below. and illustrated in the drawings;

Referring, to the accompanying draw: ingsg c :Eigure 1 isavertical section of our imn proved device; p

Fig. 2 is ,an cnlargedpl an View ofathe, tt n v e Fig. is an enlarged eleyationgo f the perforator and butting; knives.

Our =c1eyiceco1nnrises a casing ,1 nineteen lain or ot'herisuitable material, slightly inset from the;b91i 0m-, of. whichtare perforated lugs 2. A removable bottom plate 3;. havingt perforations. therein to registeim with the perforations inthe lugs 2, isremovably fas,

telledztot thec'asing by means of bolts or screws i v The casingisso shaped that the opening for the cigar at thetop thereof is isn'bstan tially as wide as the top, inorder that the cigar may not come in contact-with parts which are not niaintained sterile. by my novel; means.

The cutting and perforati-ng mechanism is mounted on, the bottom plate and I is 'rem'o-v able therewith; it comprises two or more rods '5, surrounded bywcompression springs 61 retainectbetween the ends thereof: by" any suitable means,- such as heads 7 s and 8 the,

bottom plate 3.7 a p BracketsQaarelocatedbetween the heads 7' and [the tops of the springs, 6 and surround the, racist, whereby they arehcld at the highest possible. position-by means ofxsaid springs. These brackets are fastened to a sleeve 10 which is flared out at its upperiend into av number of rcnrved 1 narrow arms 7 11, connected together at their upper ends an annular. plate .11; The. interior bore of lower heads 8 being suitably fastenedqtosthe the; sleeve iskthreadedsasatv 12, there being a substantial idistance between the bottom or: this: sleeve and the bottom. i plate to permit ofya downward movement ofztheisleeve from the, position shown on t Fig,- 1. A: rod 13- A is rotatable within the .sleeve 10 and is provided with. threads is exteriorly thereof which correspond, with, the threads within thebore cat the'sleeve 10., These threads are of such a pitch that downward movement i of, the .slee-vewill cause a snitablyc-rapid rotas ll'lOIlOfitl'lltlil'llVBS. A plate 1:5 is integral with or suitably, ifflEtQIlBddtO the hottomtpla te (hand has an indentation therein to provide a bearing for the pointedlower endr-lfiof the rod- 1%. Knife blades 17; as well'sas the cigars-perforating.,point 518;. are suitably fes tened to the top of the rod or shaftl ifi and revolve thertn'vith the blades-being located within. the, space. formed arms 11. t

a It Will ,iapparent than-pressure cansed F by; pressingwthe lend of; cigar :upon the arms ill for the annularibandaconnecting them together will cause them and thereby th l e 19; tc moaie dcwnwvardly against by v the curvedthe,preeminent-the springs; 6;; andmsuch downward movement of the sleeve, by reason of the intermeshing threads within thev bore of the sleeve and upon the exterior of the rod 13, will cause the rod .and thereby the knife blades 17 and the perforator 18 to revolve, whereby the tip of the cigar will be perforated and cut olf.

A suitable housing 19 may be provided around the mechanism to deflect the cigar clippings and prevent them from clogging the mechanism.

The opening into which the cigar end is inserted is flared outwardly as illustrated at 20 and is very little larger than the largest size of cigar commonly used, so that the de vice may accommodate any size of cigar. The flared part 20 consists of suitable heat conducting and heat resisting material, for example metal, so that it may be heated without damage thereto by the electric re sistance coils 21 encircling and insulated from the same and also encircling the other parts of the device with which the cigar.

end may come in contact, and imparting a sterilizing temperature thereto.

The flared mouth piece 20 is suitably supported by brackets 22, and the coil 21 is supplied with electric'current by means of the lead wires 23 connected to the transformer 24. Binding posts 25 on the exterior of the casing are connected to the transformer and receive current from any suitable source. The transformer may,'obviously, be omitted, if suitable current, not requiring it, is available.

Our device is intended for use on cigar counters, and the current is permitted to flow therethrough continuously whereby all such parts of the device with which the end of the cigar may come in contact are kept constantly at such a temperature that they are always sterile, except possibly for a few moments after use, but theybecome sterile before the next cigar is inserted to be cut.

All that is necessary to perforate and cut a cigar hygienically is to insert the cigar end into the opening 20 and to exert a slight pressure thereon. This pressure is transmitted to the parts 11 and 11, and therethrough to the sleeve-l0, which, as described above, causes a rotation of the shaft 13 and the knives 17 and perforator 18. Upon Withdrawing the cigar from the device the springs 6 cause an upward movement of the sleeve 10 and a counter rotation of the rotatable parts.

Having described our invention, what we desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. A cigar cutter comprising a casing having an opening therein, perforating and cutting means and means to sterilize such means.

2. A cigar cutter comprising a casing having one of its sides substantially wholly open, cutting means and means to sterilize tially the whole of said side being occupied by said walls, cutting means adjacent said flared .walls and means to keep sterile the cutting means and said flared walls.

4. A cigar cutter comprising a casing having an opening the-rein, curved walls extending from the edge of said opening and (201% verging inwardly and downwardly of heat conducting and heat resisting material, cutting means at the lower end of the converging walls, an electric heat producing coil wound about said walls and the cutting mechanism and means to conduct electricity to said coil.

5. A cigar cutter comprising rotatable blades, a screw threaded shaft on which said blades are mounted, depressible means having screw threads therein to register with the screw threads on said shaft, wherebydepression of the depressible means causes rotation ofisaid blades.

6. A cigar cutter comprising rotatable blades, a screw threaded shaft on which said blades are mounted, depressible means having screw threads therein to register with the screw threads on said shaft, whereby de- F pression of the depressible means causes rotation of said blades, and spring means acting on the depressible means to return it to depressible position.

'7. A cigar cutter comprising a casing hav ing an opening therein, curved walls extending from the edge of said opening and converging inwardly and downwardly of heat conducting and heat resisting material, a rotatable shaft, knife blades at the upper end of said shaft and at the lower end of the converging walls, screw threads on thelower end of said shaft, a hearing within the casing for said shaft, a sleeve having screw threads registering with the screw threads on said shaft, arms on said sleeve, pins passing through said arms, and springson said pins. I

8. A cigar cutter comprising a casing having an opening therein, curved walls extending from the edge of said opening and converging inwardly and downwardly of heat conducting and heat resisting material, a rotatable shaft, knife blades at the upper end of said shaft and at the lower end of the converging walls, screw threads on the lower end of said shaft, a bearing within'the casing for said shaft, a sleeve having screw threads registering with the screw threads on said shaft, arms on said sleeve, pins passing through said arms, springs on said pins, and a housing to prevent cigar ends from coming in contact with said pins and arms.

' ABRAHAM SPINNER.

- JOHN S. MERENNA. 

